Chapter 122
Chapter 122
Zenovia
We stared at each other, Callahan’s eyes boring into mine as Drusilla gathered her ritual supplies.
“Okay, now I want you both to be standing in front of each other….here,” She said, pointing to a spot just in front of the statue.
I nodded and went to stand where she had asked us to. Callahan shook his head and followed suit.
Drusilla brought out another book from her bag and began reading something.
“I just have to make sure I am not doing it wrong” She mumbled. My gaze flicked to the book in her hand and I noticed it to be a pretty old and worn-out book. It had a leather outer cover and the pages seemed yellowed.
“What trick shop did you buy that book from?” Callahan asked, noticing my questioning gaze.
Drusilla flipped the pages and muttered, “I know you don’t believe in fate or destiny. The least you can do is stay quiet when I am working.”
Callahan raised his hands in mock surrender and stood in front of me while Drusilla pulled out a white powder and began drawing a circle around us.
“You are a witch as well?” I asked, just to not be caught looking at Callahan’s face when he was staring so intently at me.
Even his gaze was telling me how this was a stupid idea.
“Partially. I am learning. And I had to make a few deals just to lay a hand on this book. So it better work.”
“What deals?” Callahan asked sharply but she ignored him.
After she completed the circle around us she pulled a small dagger and held it in front of us.
“What? Now I have to nick her with that? I have claws you know,” Callahan added but Drusilla rolled her eyes at him.
He was suddenly being too chatty, probably an attempt to disguise his nervousness as a carefree attitude.
Drusilla held the dagger under the waterfall and muttered some incantations in a language I did not understand while reading through the yellowed pages.
When she was done, she brought it back to us and handed it to Callahan.
“Cut her wrist gently, the median cubital vein. Then you too, Zenovia. Then you both hold your wrists over each other as if shaking hands and I say the rest of the chants.”
Callahan scoffed, “English please”
Drusilla stepped forward and pointed her index finger at my wrist. “The middle one, right in the center. It is clearly visible.”
Callahan looked at me and I tried not to shiver as he gently reached for my hand and held it forward, palm open.
The gentle brush of his fingers made my skin tingle but I decided to blame it on the chilly air.
His thumb caressed my wrist and I felt goosebumps appear on my skin. “This might hurt a bit”
He said and I nodded.
Drusilla explained, “Werewolf and Lycan wounds typically heal faster than the average wounds. This knife would keep the wound open just a bit longer to let us collect the necessary amount of blood.”
Callahan remarked, “I don’t need it and you know why.”
I bit my lower lip. His wounds were already taking longer to heal.
“Yeah, but I am not barbaric enough to dice you with my claws, which I don’t have. Plus, we need to use the wrist vein so please do it.” She said.
Callahan ignored her as his golden eyes bore into mine.
“Keep looking at me”
He made it sound so easy. But I could hardly stand still while looking into his eyes and with his hand caressing mine.
Drusilla flipped a page and began chanting something as Callahan let the cool tip of the dagger touch my skin. His gaze was hypnotic and he did not even have to look down to nick my skin.
Drusilla’s chants filled in the silence that was otherwise only punctuated by my shaky breaths.
“Done,” He said and I tried not to show the disappointment in my expressions with the way he quickly let go of my hand.
I gulped nervously and reached for his left hand. The tip of his nails were chipped and I could see the wounds under his nails and on the knuckles.
He was healing like a human already. I looked at the small wounds and dread settled in my heart as he tilted his head.
“Are you going to do it or not?”
I took a deep breath and held his hand with one of my own while repeating what he had done to my hand. Blood had pooled around the small incision he made, just enough to make it ooze out gently and not gush out like a river.
I saw the way my werewolf was trying to heal the wound. “Relax, it is okay” I spoke to Thunder who only replied,
“It is a basic instinct”
I could not keep looking into his eyes, not when his hands showed me faint lines of injuries and scars that I had not previously seen. He would seldom sit still for me to observe his wounds or his face for that matter. And his eyes would always be glaring at me.
Letting out a breath, I took the dagger and made a small cut on his wrist. Red blood squeezed itself out of the nick almost instantly and we looked at Drusilla.
“Good, now hold your hands as if you are shaking them but grab each other’s elbows, not the palms, the wrists should touch.”
We did as she said and then she stepped forward to tilt our hands so that his knuckles were facing upward. Content rights by NôvelDr//ama.Org.
She opened the book and began chanting something as I tried not to focus on the way his fingers were lightly brushing my skin.
The golden orbs in his eyes were shining vibrantly and I could see the way the cogs in his life were churning. He was deep in thought about something while Drusilla continued to chant.
She stopped just once and tilted our hands again so that my knuckles were now facing upwards.
I thought I saw something as my gaze went to our joined hands. While she was chanting a faint golden thread that was more like a wisp emerged from the the tip of his index finger.
I blinked thinking that it was my imagination, but the golden particles began elongating like a thread, flowing from his index finger and traveling upwards, toward the back of his hand.
I watched in a daze as the golden wisp kept enlarging and circling our joined hands as if enveloping it in a golden thread. Drusilla saw the thread emerge and a radiant smile blossomed in her eyes.
She looked at me as if to say ‘It is working. I nodded and urged her to continue. The moment the golden wisp reached the area of our joined elbows, it hesitated a bit.
Even Callahan raised an eyebrow and stared at it, wondering what made it stop. Drusilla’s smile wavered but she began chanting with renewed vigor.
The tip of the golden wisp seemed to hover just on the top of our joined hands but finally, it began traveling downward.
I saw the way Drusilla’s shoulders slumped in relief but she never stopped chanting. The wisp penetrated our joined elbows and I only felt a slight tingling sensation. It disappeared inside and we waited for it to show up.
After what seemed like an eternity, the wisp emerged from below our joined hands…however, it was not golden…it had a slight reddish hue to it.
My gaze automatically drifted to Callahan but he seemed as surprised as me. The golden crimson wisp began enveloping our hands until it reached my index finger.
The candles Drusilla had placed around us in the circle suddenly flared up before the flames were wiped away. A puff of smoke rose from the wicks and the golden reddish wisp enveloping our hands disappeared as well.
We stayed as we were and Drusilla closed her eyes, offering some sort of prayer to the Goddess before she turned to the statue of the Norns.
She folded her hands and offered a prayer to them as well and bowed her head before turning back to us.
Pushing the book back in her purse she beamed at me. “It is done. Now you are officially the anchor of the Lycan King.”